Lately, Samsung has been building an amazing track record with updates. Their flagship from two years ago, the Galaxy S II, launched with Gingerbread. They updated it to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3, leaving the Gingerbread-esque UI unchanged. Then with 4.0.4 came a whole different experience, updated to be closer to ICS standards (or as close as TouchWiz could get anyway). But the really amazing thing is that Samsung updated the aging device to Jelly Bean 4.1.2, with yet another UI revision. It incorporated the Galaxy S III software, including the new launcher, smart features, and everything.

Similarly, Samsung stated that the Galaxy S III won’t be left behind. With the release of the Galaxy S 4 running Android 4.2.2, Samsung promised that the S III and Note II will both get the software from the S 4, along with all the features possible. It’s an amazing proposition, but will Samsung deliver?

A 4.2.2 build for the Galaxy S III has leaked and it is absolutely official. Flashing it will not trip the binary counter, just like with a stock firmware. This means that Samsung is getting pretty close to completing this build. Here are some of the included features:

Even though this is an official build, it is still pre-release and may be unstable. This was not meant to be used as a daily driver, so flash it at your own risk and be aware of the consequences. Hit the source link for the download and instructions.

It’s great to see Samsung sticking to a consistent update schedule. Not leaving behind older phones is a great way to build loyalty. Not too long ago, I still rocked a Galaxy S II as my main phone, and having Jelly Bean on it with the Galaxy S III features encouraged me to stick with Samsung. What do you think of Samsung upgrading older phones with both new versions of Android and new user interfaces?

Dima Aryeh is a Russian obsessed with all things tech. He does photography, is an avid phone modder (who uses an AT&T Galaxy Note II), a heavy gamer (both PC and 360), and an aspiring home mechanic. He is also an avid fan of music, especially power metal.

And Samsung may wonder why demand for the S4 has declined and not reached anticipated sales numbers??
Either they have something up their sleeves with hopes pinned on an all new looking S5 or they are happy to allow the S4 to be somewhat of a loss leader.

The reason the S4 wasn’t as big of a hit is because in my opinion it wasn’t a big enough upgrade. They should have delayed the S4 and made sure every region type of the S4 had the Octa-Core chip.

That version is much better and in more ways then just it’s CPU. It has a better camera sensor for superior pictures, processing power is better and you get much longer stand by time due to the big/little architecture and about an hour to two hours more screen on time.

It’s only issue was no lte at the time but if they would have waited and got the right radio for lte and that also would have given them more time to produce there Octa-Core chip. They could have made the S4 universal like the Note 2.

That makes updating to different regions easier and everyone would have the same hardware.

Now Samsung is releasing another S4 with different hardware again. There new S4 will have the Qualcomm 800 rather then the 600 that’s in certain regions. I’m not sure if they are going to change the name to S4 Advanced or just keep calling it the S4 and use the 800 that most high end phones will be using later this year.

But either way. It suck’s for people that couldn’t get the octa-core chip in there S4, because if you went out and got the S4 in the USA you’re stuck with the 600 chip when you could have waited and got the Qualcomm 800 version of the S4 and that version beats all benchmarks of all other CPUs for phones. It really is one crazy fast CPU and it suck’s that Samsung is doing this.

Do this is why I don’t think the S4 is doing very well right now. Once it’s released with the new Qualcomm 800 and becomes the fastest device in the US I believe sales will go up. One thing Samsung needs to stop is making all these different variants of the S4. Two or three tops would have already been to much. And furthermore they are now making a more powerful S4 using a different processor… Come on Samsung, get it together. Just think about keeping all of these up to date.. Different screen size, different processor, 3 different processors by the 3rd quarter.

And still no Note 2 or S3 update?

I’m not sure who’s idea this was but I feel it takes away the idea of the S4 being a premium product. If someone asks you what kind of phone you have and you say “oh I got the new S4″ I wouldn’t know what S4 you have.. Do you have the cheap version without the new CPU? Do you have the Awesome octa-core? Do you have the camera version? Do you have the rugged version that you can throw across the room? Do you have the new Advanced version with the new Qualcomm 800 that beats any other phone out there as far as pure power goes?

Maybe Samsung should have stuck to just one and put the octa-core CPU in all of them along with the better camera sensor and great battery life that version has. It would have been the best all around premium phone Samsung could make. It might have been delayed a month or two but in my humble opinion that would have been there best bet. They then could have worked on updating the Note 2 and S3 along with keeping the S4 up to date for at least 2 and a half to 3 years, same goes for the Note 2 and S3. Keep them up to date for at least that same amount of time. Then they could start working on there S5 and Note 3 once everything is up to date as far as the most recent version of Android and TouchWiz goes.

What the Hell are you complaining about? I have the Samsung Note and there is absolutely no mention of any update any time soon for us!! It’s like this phone never existed!!
I guess the take away lession here is never buy a 1st time product!!
I will just have to live with ICS till I get another phone :-(

I think they need to fix the problems with the S3. I have three known issues on mine and all they keep doing is “investigating” them. Before they move on to newer they should fix the problems with the existing. In my mind THAT’S how you gain loyalty and keep your customers. After going through 3 S3′s (my original and 2 replacements) and still not having a properly working phone even though I was eying up the Note I am not in the mood for another Samsung product. I’ve waited months for fixes and I see new products instead.

I think it’s great. I also think Samsung needs to put more into there software update division. If they could release these updates faster it would help allot more.

People spend big bucks on there phones and when Samsung releases a new device with better software, more features and then doesn’t update a phone they just released months ago to the latest version until 6 months to a year later, it really bugs people.

Like I said, it’s great they are updating the phones but they need to be doing it faster. As well as put tweets out or post it on there Facebook page. Allowing us to see they are doing something about getting our phones updated and when we could expect to see the update roll out. Instead Samsung keeps us in the dark about it.

I’m sure a company as big as Samsung can at the least give us a date or even a estimate of when the software should be released. That’s why I’m saying they should definitely expand they’re software update division, it’s not like they can’t afford it and with all the new devices they have been pushing out.

This is all the more reason to make there software update division bigger and push out updates faster as well as stop keeping us in the dark about updates and making us rely on 3rd party websites and rumors that we are all doing now.

I agree with this 100% I just recently got my Note 2 and I love it but I hate being in the dark about a Samsung phone I just got. They are already talking about releasing the Note 3, if the Note 3 comes out before I get the latest Samsung update I’ll never be buying another Samsung phone again.

And I’m not talking about a month or two before it’s released. If the S4 can have these features out of the box why can’t Samsung just work on an update for my Note 2 we all know they have the money and resources to update the Note 2 within the next month so why do they keep us in the dark and wait until I can’t handle it or even care about the update to release it.

Say what you want, but Samsung has shown more effort in getting out updates to their users than, say, HTC. I have a Droid DNA, and all of my smartphones have been HTC (always prefered HTC’s product design), but they make my phone feel outdated after six months –infamous for being terrible at pushing updates.

You are right buddy. Samsung I just not passing update for not2 also. Xperia z has also received latest update 4.2.2 since few months of it’s launch. I bought note2 thinking it would be updated but still it’s on 4.1.2. Fed up off using old. Sony proved better than samsung atleast incase of passing updates. I feel sorry for Samsung that if it will not improve their update theory, time is not far that sony will lead.

And Samsung may wonder why demand for the S4 has declined and not reached anticipated sales numbers??
Either they have something up their sleeves with hopes pinned on an all new looking S5 or they are happy to allow the S4 to be somewhat of a loss leader.

The reason the S4 wasn’t as big of a hit is because in my opinion it wasn’t a big enough upgrade. They should have delayed the S4 and made sure every region type of the S4 had the Octa-Core chip.

That version is much better and in more ways then just it’s CPU. It has a better camera sensor for superior pictures, processing power is better and you get much longer stand by time due to the big/little architecture and about an hour to two hours more screen on time.

It’s only issue was no lte at the time but if they would have waited and got the right radio for lte and that also would have given them more time to produce there Octa-Core chip. They could have made the S4 universal like the Note 2.

That makes updating to different regions easier and everyone would have the same hardware.

Now Samsung is releasing another S4 with different hardware again. There new S4 will have the Qualcomm 800 rather then the 600 that’s in certain regions. I’m not sure if they are going to change the name to S4 Advanced or just keep calling it the S4 and use the 800 that most high end phones will be using later this year.

But either way. It suck’s for people that couldn’t get the octa-core chip in there S4, because if you went out and got the S4 in the USA you’re stuck with the 600 chip when you could have waited and got the Qualcomm 800 version of the S4 and that version beats all benchmarks of all other CPUs for phones. It really is one crazy fast CPU and it suck’s that Samsung is doing this.

Do this is why I don’t think the S4 is doing very well right now. Once it’s released with the new Qualcomm 800 and becomes the fastest device in the US I believe sales will go up. One thing Samsung needs to stop is making all these different variants of the S4. Two or three tops would have already been to much. And furthermore they are now making a more powerful S4 using a different processor… Come on Samsung, get it together. Just think about keeping all of these up to date.. Different screen size, different processor, 3 different processors by the 3rd quarter.

And still no Note 2 or S3 update?

I’m not sure who’s idea this was but I feel it takes away the idea of the S4 being a premium product. If someone asks you what kind of phone you have and you say “oh I got the new S4″ I wouldn’t know what S4 you have.. Do you have the cheap version without the new CPU? Do you have the Awesome octa-core? Do you have the camera version? Do you have the rugged version that you can throw across the room? Do you have the new Advanced version with the new Qualcomm 800 that beats any other phone out there as far as pure power goes?

Maybe Samsung should have stuck to just one and put the octa-core CPU in all of them along with the better camera sensor and great battery life that version has. It would have been the best all around premium phone Samsung could make. It might have been delayed a month or two but in my humble opinion that would have been there best bet. They then could have worked on updating the Note 2 and S3 along with keeping the S4 up to date for at least 2 and a half to 3 years, same goes for the Note 2 and S3. Keep them up to date for at least that same amount of time. Then they could start working on there S5 and Note 3 once everything is up to date as far as the most recent version of Android and TouchWiz goes.

What the Hell are you complaining about? I have the Samsung Note and there is absolutely no mention of any update any time soon for us!! It’s like this phone never existed!!
I guess the take away lession here is never buy a 1st time product!!
I will just have to live with ICS till I get another phone :-(

I think they need to fix the problems with the S3. I have three known issues on mine and all they keep doing is “investigating” them. Before they move on to newer they should fix the problems with the existing. In my mind THAT’S how you gain loyalty and keep your customers. After going through 3 S3′s (my original and 2 replacements) and still not having a properly working phone even though I was eying up the Note I am not in the mood for another Samsung product. I’ve waited months for fixes and I see new products instead.

I think it’s great. I also think Samsung needs to put more into there software update division. If they could release these updates faster it would help allot more.

People spend big bucks on there phones and when Samsung releases a new device with better software, more features and then doesn’t update a phone they just released months ago to the latest version until 6 months to a year later, it really bugs people.

Like I said, it’s great they are updating the phones but they need to be doing it faster. As well as put tweets out or post it on there Facebook page. Allowing us to see they are doing something about getting our phones updated and when we could expect to see the update roll out. Instead Samsung keeps us in the dark about it.

I’m sure a company as big as Samsung can at the least give us a date or even a estimate of when the software should be released. That’s why I’m saying they should definitely expand they’re software update division, it’s not like they can’t afford it and with all the new devices they have been pushing out.

This is all the more reason to make there software update division bigger and push out updates faster as well as stop keeping us in the dark about updates and making us rely on 3rd party websites and rumors that we are all doing now.

I agree with this 100% I just recently got my Note 2 and I love it but I hate being in the dark about a Samsung phone I just got. They are already talking about releasing the Note 3, if the Note 3 comes out before I get the latest Samsung update I’ll never be buying another Samsung phone again.

And I’m not talking about a month or two before it’s released. If the S4 can have these features out of the box why can’t Samsung just work on an update for my Note 2 we all know they have the money and resources to update the Note 2 within the next month so why do they keep us in the dark and wait until I can’t handle it or even care about the update to release it.

Say what you want, but Samsung has shown more effort in getting out updates to their users than, say, HTC. I have a Droid DNA, and all of my smartphones have been HTC (always prefered HTC’s product design), but they make my phone feel outdated after six months –infamous for being terrible at pushing updates.

You are right buddy. Samsung I just not passing update for not2 also. Xperia z has also received latest update 4.2.2 since few months of it’s launch. I bought note2 thinking it would be updated but still it’s on 4.1.2. Fed up off using old. Sony proved better than samsung atleast incase of passing updates. I feel sorry for Samsung that if it will not improve their update theory, time is not far that sony will lead.